"Yeah, this is enough."

Xue Rui grinned. Ren Jun really was efficient.

"Xiaorui, I get the stationery, and I get the neck pillow... But what does any of this have to do with black stockings?"

Ren Jun looked baffled, unable to follow Xue Rui’s train of thought.

None of this stuff had anything to do with black stockings.

How was Xue Rui going to gift them?

More importantly, would Xue Xiaying even wear them?

"I have my own clever tricks."

Xue Rui put on a mysterious air, looking like some kind of charlatan.

He crouched down and lifted the box. It had to weigh dozens of pounds.

It wasn’t that it was heavy, but the cardboard box was a bit big, blocking his view. Xue Rui had to walk with his head tilted to the side.

"Let me help you carry it." Ren Jun prepared to go with Xue Rui.

"No entry!" Uncle Wang barked.

"Not letting me in? Then why did you take my cigarettes?"

Ren Jun, displeased, held out his hand, gesturing for his cigarettes back.

"Just consider it a little gift out of respect for your elder."

Uncle Wang shot him a smug glance and stuffed the cigarettes into his pocket.

"Uncle, you shouldn’t come. This gift is from me," Xue Rui said, winking to signal that Ren Jun should head back.

"I’ll be waiting for your good news, then." Seeing Xue Rui’s expression, Ren Jun understood instantly.

Xue Rui had helped him avoid jail time and had even significantly improved his image at home.

As a result, he now felt an inexplicable sense of trust in his nephew, Xue Rui.

It was as if anything Xue Rui said was bound to come true.

Xue Rui thought to himself that something like gifting black stockings was a job for him. ’Right now, I’m just a teenager.’

’But Ren Jun is an adult in his twenties.’

’If we both did the same thing, it would give people a completely different impression.’

’Especially when it comes to a member of the opposite sex giving a gift—and a gift like black stockings, which really lets the imagination run wild.’

’People would subconsciously suspect Ren Jun of having ulterior motives.’

’But it’s different for me. Who would suspect an innocent and mischievous teenager?’

’Even if I fail, at worst, it’ll just be seen as a charming little joke.’

Besides, Teachers’ Day was in a few days. It was perfectly reasonable for Xue Rui, a student, to give his teacher a gift in advance to show his gratitude for her tireless guidance.

Xue Rui was very popular at school. As he walked, many students offered to lend him a hand, but he refused them all.

Students this age were bursting with curiosity; no matter what was inside, they would want to take a peek.

Therefore, Xue Rui chose to take the less-traveled "teachers’ staircase" upstairs.

The so-called exclusive staircase was actually just the one closest to the main teachers’ office, which very few students were willing to use.

Because if they passed by the teachers’ office, their homeroom teacher might see them.

And students, well, even if they hadn’t done anything wrong, they still didn’t want to be seen by their teachers.

This mentality is actually quite common among adults, too.

It’s like how no one wants their boss to think they’re just slacking off at the office all day.

It would be best if, every time they ran into their boss, they were hard at work.

But reality is often disappointing. Every time you run into the boss, you’re either slacking off, in the breakroom, or in the restroom...

Xue Rui was mentally rehearsing his speech when he reached the office door and happened to run into his class’s physics teacher.

"Hello, Teacher Liu." Xue Rui greeted him with a smile.

Teacher Liu had his shirt tucked into his trousers. He wore reading glasses, and at over fifty, his hair was already streaked with gray. In his hand, he held a glass cup caked with tea stains.

Because of his unkempt habits, he would often SPIT, SPIT, SPIT tea leaves back into his cup while drinking tea in the classroom.

That’s why the students all secretly called him Old Liu.

Xue Rui stepped aside for Old Liu, gesturing for him to go in first.

However, the man’s next action left Xue Rui scratching his head.

"Xue Rui? You first."

Old Liu held up the beaded curtain meant to keep out mosquitoes and flies, making it easier for Xue Rui to enter with the box.

Although Old Liu was usually quite amiable...

...his current posture, how should I put it, seemed a bit too deferential...

Confused, Xue Rui just smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Teacher."

As Xue Rui walked into the office, Old Liu put down his cup and came over to help.

"No need." Xue Rui was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.

He quickly set the box down in a corner of the office. It wouldn’t be good if the old man threw out his back.

But it wasn’t over. Old Liu’s next actions had Xue Rui sitting on pins and needles.

Old Liu brought a stool over for Xue Rui and even made him a cup of tea in a disposable paper cup.

He’d even pulled the tea leaves out from the very back of a drawer; it was clearly a stash he’d treasured for a long time.

"Thank you." Xue Rui was completely baffled.

He couldn’t remember having any sort of special relationship with Old Liu.

But Old Liu was acting as if he were hosting a long-lost friend.

Seeing Xue Rui’s dazed expression, a female teacher in the office smiled and waved him over.

Xue Rui quickly changed his seat, finally escaping Old Liu’s intense enthusiasm. He felt a wave of relief wash over him.

He sat down next to the middle-aged female teacher and asked in a low voice, "Teacher, what’s up with Teacher Liu?"

The female teacher glanced at Old Liu, then leaned in and said:

"Old Liu? Well, this has something to do with you. Remember that... what was it, that evaluation form you had us teachers administer last week..."

The teacher explained the whole story to Xue Rui.

To be precise, it was a complete coincidence.

That morning, Old Liu had been tossing his used tea leaves out the window and accidentally shattered a flowerpot that Director Wang had been cultivating for three years.

Worst of all, Director Wang saw him do it.

Director Wang had a bad temper and showed no mercy when he lost it.

He could find fault with teachers from every possible angle, and his scoldings were nasty. The whole school knew this.

At that moment, the air in the office was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Old Liu felt like his world was collapsing. He was on the verge of retirement, and now, at the very end, he was about to be reamed out by a supervisor younger than him. It was utterly humiliating.

But to everyone’s surprise, Director Wang just said, "Consider it shattered for good luck. As long as the flower isn’t dead, it’s fine."

Not only did he not blame Old Liu, but he even praised him.

It was because last week, Xue Rui’s desire to give Lin Ruoxi a psychological test had led to the entire sophomore grade taking a psychological evaluation.

In many classes, students were flagged by the evaluation form as having potential issues.

All the teachers, operating under the principle of "better safe than sorry," notified the parents of the students in question.

The parents were terrified. They rushed their children to the provincial capital for re-evaluation, and the results were the same as the school had indicated.

When one parent was arranging a leave of absence for their child, they made a special trip to the school to present a silk banner.

Xue Rui looked up at the office wall, where a brand-new silk banner was prominently displayed.

It read: "Nurturing Young Minds with Heart, Filling the Campus with Love—Your school’s profound kindness is as deep as the sea. You helped my child walk out of the shadows and grow toward the sun..."

"What’s more, just yesterday, Monday, the higher-ups conducted a surprise inspection on mental health issues, and our grade was the only one that had done the evaluations!"

"That banner was from one of Teacher Liu’s students, and Director Wang was so proud..."

The teacher trailed off, giving Xue Rui a look that said, ’You get the picture.’

The corner of Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’It really is a case of unintentional actions yielding unexpectedly good results.’

’I get it now. My suggestion put Director Wang in an excellent mood, which in turn saved Old Liu from disaster.’

’Old Liu is this old and still just a regular teacher. It shows he’s probably shy and not good with words.’

’He felt he should thank me but didn’t know how.’

’And that led to this whole scene.’

"Whose big box is this?" Teacher Guo asked casually, walking into the office.

"Mine," Xue Rui replied, then asked, "Teacher Guo, have you seen my aunt?"

Teacher Guo smiled and pointed behind her.

Xue Xiaying, clutching a folder, ducked into the office with her face covered, hissing in a low voice, "Stop following me! There are too many students here!"

"Sister Xiaying, I really do love you."